When the Desert Sunlight solar plant opened in February, it was hailed as the world's largest solar project. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell was on hand to mark the momentous occasion, which she celebrated by flipping a giant ceremonial light switch.

"We are ideally situated, here in eastern Riverside County, to host this kind of development in the future," county supervisor John Benoit said at the time, as he surveyed the 550-megawatt, 3,800-acre solar field.

And that's still true. But Desert Sunlight's world record?

It lasted less than six months.

On the border of Los Angeles and Kern counties, the 579-megawatt Solar Star project is now open for business. According to data from the California Independent System Operator, Solar Star came fully online on June 19, as first reported by Greentech Media. It's got 29 more megawatts of capacity than Desert Sunlight — hence the world record.

Solar Star is actually two projects, owned by BHE Renewables and built by SunPower Corporation. Southern California Edison is buying the power from the plants, which span more than 3,200 acres in the Antelope Valley, about two-and-a-half hours northeast of the Coachella Valley.

All three of the world's largest solar plants — Solar Star, Desert Sunlight and the Topaz project, in San Luis Obispo County — are now located in California. It's an exciting time for renewable energy advocates: California has already set 14 records for solar power generation this year, and experts expect a steady clip of new records over the summer, especially with Solar Star now fully online.

"We've had moments where the whole state was over 50 percent powered by renewable energy," Adam Browning — executive director of Vote Solar, a national advocacy group — told The Desert Sun earlier this month. "Think about that: the seventh-largest economy of the world running on what was formerly an empty pipe dream. It's absolutely amazing."

California's rapid solar growth has been fueled both by falling costs and by the state's renewable energy mandate, which requires major utilities to buy 33 percent of their retail electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Based on contracts for clean energy projects that haven't yet come online, utilities already have most of the electricity they'll need to hit their 2020 targets.

Meanwhile, Gov. Jerry Brown has called for California to get 50 percent of its electricity from renewables by 2030, and the state Senate passed legislation earlier this month that would make Brown's target state law. It's all but guaranteed that the same bill, or a version of that bill, will clear the Assembly as well.

Even if lawmakers approve a 50 percent renewable energy mandate, though, there are still some obstacles ahead for large-scale solar — particularly in the desert, which has some of the best sunlight in the state.

Solar developers have balked at the Desert Renewable Energy Conservation Plan, a state-federal effort to promote clean energy in some parts of the desert while setting aside other areas for environmental protection. The draft plan released in September is supposed to make clean energy development easier and less expensive, but solar advocates have argued it could actually make development harder and more expensive.

State and federal officials said in March they would delay much of the plan's implementation, going back to the drawing board on the permitting process for energy projects. There have been few updates on the plan since then.

Sammy Roth writes about energy and water for The Desert Sun. He can be reached at sammy.roth@desertsun.com, (760) 778-4622 and @Sammy_Roth.